Volume 5: Unrivaled

Chapter 744: The Ultimate Answer to the Small-Ball Era. When Paul was out of form, as long as Harden was contained, the Rockets had no real offensive answers. What small-ball feared most was an opponent with a low-post weapon. In pursuit of mobility, the Rockets had sacrificed height; they could not withstand Antetokounmpo's bruising post offense and could only double-team him. The first half proved as much. The Rockets had not fallen behind in their shootout with the Warriors. Moreover, Tucker's one-on-one defense against Curry was nowhere near as effective as D'Antoni had expected. Curry first used a screen to get Tucker on him, then buried a pull-up three straight out of the triple-threat position. A few possessions later, he used a shot fake to shake Tucker, drove into the paint, and finished at the rim. A few possessions after that, he went between the legs twice and drilled a step-back three, leaving Tucker spinning. Brogdon could hit spot-up threes, organize the offense with his passing, and defend steadily. His drives posed little threat, but with Curry and Antetokounmpo around, he did not need to handle the ball much. Zhang Yu sent out Curry, Brogdon, Wiggins, Covington, and Antetokounmpo, matching small ball with small ball, and the defense immediately became much tougher. Jaylen Brown had received plenty of minutes in the first half, but he had yet to integrate with the team and could not create much chemistry with his teammates. He was effective only when he had the ball and could exploit mismatches against the Rockets' interior. Without the ball, however, he could often only stand to the side and watch his teammates work, offering little off-ball threat. The Death Lineup Zhang Yu deployed in the second half was also an experiment; it did not represent the ultimate version